Till the day we met: Avalanche
by bombom5677
Summary: Lightning was sent to Midgar slums for a mission. What is her mission? What is awaiting her in Midgar slums?


Lightning came here a few months ago. Serah gave up her job in Cocoon and came to the Midgar slums to set up a local school and teach poor childrens. Lightning helped her sister to move into the slums. She still remembers how the people at Midgar were staring at them, like they are some alien descended from the sky.

But now, she's here on a different mission. She adjusted her black T-shirt and black cargo pants. She wears a black cap to hide her obvious and striking greyish pink hair. She didn't inform Serah about her arrival at Midgar, because she wants to keep it low profile.

Lightning realised that going out from Cocoon to Midgar is much more easier, but coming from Midgar to Cocoon requires a lot of security and background checks.

Cocoon is a place where all the wealthy and rich people at. It is a tall round city soaring up high on the sky, supported by eight huge electrical pillars, powered by the SHINRA company. SHINRA company is the city of Midgar, admist of the slums. The company drained out everything they could from Midgar to support Cocoon. As a result, Midgar was underdeveloped and struggling to survive.

Lightning was surprised when her sister gave up her job in Cocoon and went to Midgar slums to become a teacher. After Serah went for a education teaching trip to Midgar slums, she made her own decision and decided to began her teaching career at the slums.

Lightning as the protective sister she is, immediately arrange her transfer to Midgar Guardian Corp, which was denied by lieutenant Amodar, which is her superior. Luckily, lieutenant Amodar arranged another secret mission for her at Midgar slums.

Lightning arrived at the Midgar city after five hours of flight from Cocoon. She only brought a small duffel bag with her with some essentails stuff. Lightning hop on in a taxi and told the driver to drop her off at Midgar slums.

"Are you sure, miss?" The driver looked at Lightning through the rear mirror, which she nodded. The driver mused, "What business you've got there? It's just chaotic at the slums." The driver switched the driving gear and the taxi took off.

* * *

"See ya miss, stay safe on the streets! Pick pockets everywhere!" Without much said, the driver drove off and dropped her off at the entrance at Midgar slums.

Lightning slightly cringed at the stench and smell from Midgar slums. The air was much more humid and damp compared to Cocoon and the smells lingered. There are not much sunlight nor lights that comes through, because of Cocoon.

There was a huge arch gate leading to Midgar slums. There were beggars on the side of the road, holding their wooden plates knocking on the ground to attract passer-by's attention.

Lightning walked through the archgate without turning back. There are eight sectors at Midgar slum, Serah is at first sector where the situation is slightly better than the other sectors. She will definitely pay a visit to Serah after she's done with the mission on hand. The eighth sector was situated at the outer part followed on by the seventh sector and so on.

She was strolling around the slums to check out the environment until she heard a scream from a church like building far from her left side. Her body acting on instincts rushed inside to the abandoned church building to see a brunette's arm was being dragged by a huge hairy man.

Lightning throw her duffel bag at the hairy man and it landed on his head with a loud thud sound. The man was surprised by the attack and he nearly fell over the brunette.

"Arghhh! What the heck?!" The hairy man shake his head to clear up his groggy mind. Before he could turn to see who was the perpetrator, he felt a huge blow in his stomach, sending him flying across the church. Again, he landed with a loud thud, now unconscious.

Lightning observed the huge hairy man from far aside, she felt a slight sharp pain from her leg, but she ignored it. She turned around to see the brunette was sitting on the floor looking up at her with her large emerald green eyes, filled with curiosity.

Lightning extended her hand and she heard the brunette said, "You looked exactly like him." Lightning was confused what the brunette was talking about, but she grabbed Lightning's hand and stood up. The metal bracers on her wrists lets out a small jingle sound. She patted her shin-length pink dress gently and squeeze Lightning's hand, "Thank you." Lightning looked at her and the hairy guy lying unconscious on the floor, she cannot help but thought, What does this innocent girl have to do with this hairy guy?

Before Lightning could say anything, the church's door was opened with a loud creak. A blonde guy with a sleeveless shirt and a huge sword behind his back walked in. He stopped his footsteps when he saw the brunette and Lightning. Lightning had a good stare with him, and he noticed the hairy guy behind lying on the floor behind them. Without any hesitation, he grabbed his massive sword with his gloved hands and run towards Lightning and swinged his sword towards her head.

Hot headed. Lightning draws out her gunblade and blocked the huge sword from splitting her skull into half. The clash of the blade and the sword made a clank sound and some sparks could be seen. She underestimated how huge and dense the sword that the blonde guy is carrying. The toned and lean blonde guy furrowed his eyebrows. Two aqua blue eyes met, filled with anger.

"Stop both of you! Cloud! She just saved me!" The brunette grabbed the blonde guys toned arms and looked between him and Lightning. Lightning can feel the pressure on her blade is lighter. "Cloud." The brunette said in a worry tone. "Tch." The blonde guy rolled his eyes and swing the massive sword to his side, still staring hard at her. Lightning put down her gunblade as well. "You're welcome." Lightning said it in a sarcastic tone and keep her gunblade out of the sight.

The blonde guy, apparently his name is Cloud did not say anything and keep his massive sword as well. He turned to check on the brunette, "Are you hurt? What happened?" He cupped the brunette's face and asked in a gentle voice. The brunette cupped his hand and smiled gently, "I'm fine, thanks to..." The brunette turned around just to see the lady dressed in black clothes walking away, opening the church door and left. The brunette sighed and smiled faintly, "You two just looks alike."

* * *

Lightning pinched her nose bridge. A habit that she does when she feels frustrated. Midgar is full of surprises. She carried her duffle bag close to her chest and left the church behind. She does not want to draw any more attention. She is here on a mission, she has to keep herself low profile. She put her hand in the pocket and slide out a neatly folded paper, written with black ink: The 7th Heaven. The back of the paper had a line of address of the location of the bar. She slipped the paper back into her pocket. She should ask around to see where the bar is.

After some walking, she realised she is walking towards a small market in the eighth sector of Midgar. There were different stalls along the side of the road, selling different type of foods and goods. It was quite a busy market considering how the situation is in Midgar. There were little children running around and playing around the puddle of water. "Hey miss! Take a look at the finest fruit in Midgar!" One of the lady shouted towards Lightning with her hoarse voice, and pointed at the apples at the stall. The apples look blood red, looks like an unusual colour.

Suddenly, Lightning felt a small bump at her leg. When she looked down, she saw a young girl sitting on the ground, she twitched her face in pain, her little hand still clutching tight onto the moogle doll. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." Lightning knelt down to check on the girl. The girl smiled widely, showing her lost front teeth, "It's okay miss." Lightning gently help the little girl to stand, still kneeling down so that they were on the same eye level. "Are you sure you are alright?" Lightning checked on her to make sure she is okay, the girl nodded while smiling and came forward to give Lightning a little hug. "You are kind miss, no one treats me like that here." Lightning loosened a little bit and slightly patted on the girl's back.

"Hey!" Along the road in the market, a six-year old girl shouted towards them and pointing at them. Lightning was a bit shocked although no one in the market seems to be bothered by this. The girl with the moogle doll quickly released the hug and said goodbye to Lightning. The six-year old girl with her plait hair tied with a big pink ribbon quickly run to Lightning's side and looked disturbed. "Hey, are you okay?" Lightning asked in a concerned voice. The girl looked at Lightning and asked, "Are you new here?" Her little eyebrows are furrowed. "Yes." Lightning still kneeling on the ground answered without hesitation. The girl was slightly taken aback by her straight forward attitude, "She's a thief. She might taken your purse in your pocket while hugging you." The girl now has droopy eyes. Lightning place her hand in the pocket, to realise that the piece of paper was gone. But she remembered the address.

"Thank you." Lightning patted the girl's head, "My purse is safe, I didn't put it in the pocket." The girl smiled. Lightning stood up and asked the little girl, "Where are you going?" The girl looked a bit surprised by Lightning but she said, "Oh, I didn't have school today, so I was walking around the streets to look around. What about you? Big sis?" The girl seems to be fond of her to call Lightning big sis, reminds her a particular annoying blonde buff guy who always calls her that. "I am looking around, to find a bar to have some food."

"Oh, I know there's a good bar, it's called the 7th Heaven. But it opens only during night." The girl said, while tilting her head to the side. Lightning perked up her ears when she heard The 7th Heaven. " Can you show me where it is?" Lightning asked the young girl with the white turtleneck shirt. The girl pointed towards the busy market and said, "Alright! I can show you! This way!" The girl tiny hand grabbed Lightning's finger and eagerly wanted to show her the way. Lightning smiled and nodded her head. "Sure, lead the way."

Although Lightning was focused on the girl, but she is noting down how the street looks like in her mind. "What's your name?" Lightning turned to look at her. The girl chirped up, "My name is Marlene. What is your name?" Marlene holding tight to Lightning's hand.

Lightning smiled and answered, "My name is Claire." Oddly, she didn't use that name for a long time. Therefore when she says it, it felt a bit weird when the name rolled off her tongue. "I don't mind you calling me big sis too."

Marlene nodded her head with a smile, suddenly she stopped. Lightning followed her gaze and realised she was staring at a sweet's stall, with moogle shaped gummy sweets and hot chocolate powder drinks in beautiful silver tins. It was just a brief glance and Marlene shrugged it off, continue walking. Lightning made a mental note and followed Marlene.

After a short walk and away from the market, there's a few shop down the street. One of the shop around the corner with a dimmed plate written 'The 7th Heaven'. Marlene pointed towards the bar and told her with excitement, "Here it is!" Lightning smiled again, "Thank you." She kneeled down again and said in a soft voice, "Thank you, I will enjoy my stay here." Lightning reached out to her duffle bag and took out a paper bag and handed it over to Marlene. "This is a thank you gift for helping me and warning me about the thieves." Marlene shook her head, "No, I don't want gifts, I am happy to help." Her big pink ribbon was bouncing with her the movement of her head.

"I would be happy if you keep it. I don't know when I will see you again." Lightning insisted. Marlene sheepishly takes the gift and said, "Thank..Oh my god! It's moogle gummy and hot chocolate!" Marlene face was in shocked with happiness. "But..? Oh... you said you wanted to get some stuff for travelling." Marlene gasps in joy. Lightning nodded softly and smiled. She is a smart girl. " I love it! Thank you Claire big sis!" Marlene hugged Lightning as tight as she can. "Goodbye Marlene, I hope to see you again. All the best." Lightning said her goodbye to Marlene and sent her off in the opposite direction.

Marlene disappeared back to where they came from, saying that she need to share this sweets with her friend. Lightning after sending off Marlene, she glanced back at 'The 7th Heaven' bar. She decided to survey the surroundings before going in during the night.

* * *

The street around here gets lively during the night. The neon signs and signboards lit up one by one when the night falls. The dead street during the day had become the place where Midgar people go to have drinks during the night. There are a few women who dressed in short and tight skirts standing in front of the shop to attract customers. Lightning was standing around the corner opposite 'The 7th Heaven' observing the surroundings. She noticed there were many men going into the bar, different from the other bars, where there is a mix of customers.

Probably this had to do with Avalanche. Lightning keep this thought aside. The street gets more crowded during the night. Even though the street are not as fancy as the ones in Cocoon, but there are may people who gathered around here for the night life. There are a few beggars who change their location to earn more money here during the night. Lightning walked quietly without attracting any attention, towards the small and dark alley beside 7th Heaven. The alley was quite dimmed, with only one street light lighting up the whole quiet street. Lightning crouched beside the dumpster far from the street light, situated at the back right side of the bar. She could hear faint laughters and music from the bar. She looked across the street and saw through the window. People are drinking and chatting. Lightning observed that the bar has two storeys, probably there is someone living upstairs.

Before Lightning could hear it, she feels the quick surge of wind behind her neck and acting from her combat instinct, she dodged the attack by rolling to the side in a swift manner. From the faint moonlight and dimmed street light, she could only make out it was a woman who attacked her. The woman is in a combat stance, raising her two fists in front of her chest. Lightning decided not to reach to her gunblade. The woman situated her stance and launched another attack towards her. Lightning blocked the punch with her arm and attempted to punch the woman in her stomach. The woman used her other free arm to push away Lightning's fist, at the same time hauling her knee towards Lightning's belly. Lightning tried to dodge the knee attack but the woman had a firm grip on both of her arms. Lightning without hesitation dragged the woman with all her own strength, trying to off-balance the woman. Her strategy works, the woman did not manage to balance with the sudden strength and force that Lightning had, she tipped and falled towards Lightning.

"Shit!" The women mustered, trying to get off from Lightning's tight grip but failed to do so. Both of them falled onto the ground with a loud thud, on Lightning's back. Lightning felt the soft woman's body collided into hers. Lightning acted before the woman could do anything, she rolled and straddled on the woman's waist and slide out her gunblade. Now the woman is lying on the cold ground, Lightning put the blade near the woman's neck. The woman probably could feel the cold steel instead of seeing it, she stopped. Both of their breathing was heavy.

Lightning's eyes is adjusting to the lighting, and she could see the woman's face. She had a fair skin with a soft brownish eyes with a hint of red. Her soft dark brown hair was scattered on the floor, her cheek was slightly rosy from the intense fight they had. Despite the pretty face she has, this woman has stern eyes, eyes that is full of determination. This woman is a trained fighter. She is in the right place.

"Who are you?" The woman hissed. Lightning furrowed her eyebrows. Before she could say anything, the windows from the second floor of the bar swung open. A tiny head poked out from the window calling "Tifa, are you okay? Did you fell into the dumpster? Hehehehe." The small girl covered her mouth with small giggles. The young girl was squinting her eyes to look near the dark dumpster, just to see there were two figure standing there.

"I'm okay. Just met a lost traveller." Tifa shouted back to Marlene. Tifa darted her eyes towards Lightning, who rolled her eyes and pinched her nose bridge, which she had totally no idea why she was doing it. Marlene leaned forward to take a good look of the figure standing beside Tifa, just to see Lightning. "Hi Big Sis!" She waved in a eager manner. Lightning could feel deadly stares beside her, which she choose to ignore, and smiled back to Marlene.

"I will be back soon." Tifa yelled across the street. Marlene nodded her head and closed the window. Both of them stood in silence.


End file.
